Apparatus for the treatment of textiles or fabrics or the washing of laundry



July 11, 1967 K. scHAFER 3,330,139

APPARATUS FOR THE TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR FABRICS OR THE WASHING OFLAUNDRY Filed March 8, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 y 1957 K. scHAFER APPARATUSFOR THE TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR FABRI S THE WASHING OF LAUNDRY FiledMarch 8, 1965 1 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nm 5 1| a 1 i I J t @N HliuwlfflfilfllhliITIIA4II|TII l. llll ll 3,330,139 TEXTILES OR FABRICSOR w Julv 11 K. SCHAFER FOR THE TREATMENT APPARATUS THE WASHING OFLAUNDRY Filed March 8, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. 8

FIG. 6

K SCHAFER July 11, 1967 3,330Q139 APPARATUS FOR THE TREATMENT OFTEXTILES OR FABRICS 0R 7 THE WASHING OF LAUNDRY Filed March 8, 1965 4Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG. 9

- FIG. 70

United States Patent 3,330,139 APPARATUS FOR THE TREATMENT OF TEXTILES0R FABRICS OR THE WASHING 0F LAUNDRY Konrad Schiifer, 93 Verdistrasse,Munich- Ohermenzing, Germany Filed Mar. 8, 1965, Ser. No. 437,884 14Claims. (Cl. 68-58) This invention relates to apparatus for thetreatment of textiles or fabrics, or the Washing of laundry, in whichthe material to be treated is advanced intermittently through asuccession of treatment chambers in counterflow to a treatment orwashing liquid. Such apparatus is referred to herein as apparatus of thekind specified.

In one known machine of this kind a number of separate drums, in each ofwhich one operational process takes place, are fixed to a rotatableshaft, each drum being subdivided by inclined plates; when the machineis rotated in one direction the material being treated in each drumfalls from one inclined plate to the next, whereas when the machine isrotated in the opposite direction the material is transferred from onedrum to the next adjacent drum. Although the drums of this machine arearranged next to one another as a single unit, the internal arrangementof the machine, and especially the protruding parts and plates, giverise to the risk of damage to the material being washed or treated. Theinclined plates cause considerable friction on the material, the more soas the latter cannot be prevented from running dry. Furthermore, themachine is expensive in construction since intermediate chambers must beprovided for controlling the passage of material from one drum to thenext.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a simplerconstruction of such a machine in which the above disadvantages aresubstantially eliminated. Apparatus in accordance with the inventioncomprises a rotatable drum having a substantially horizontal axis anddivided axially into a plurality of compartments or treatment chambers,each compartment being formed with an opening adapted to be brought intoregister with an opening in an adjacent compartment, and the openingsbeing disposed so that the material being treated is transferred bygravity between the compartments when the drum is rotated to a particular angular position. Thus the drum may be split by a plane passingthrough its axis into two drum portions which are axially slidablerelatively to one another. Alternatively, the openings may be formed inthe dividing walls between the compartments and controlled by hingedclosure members which are inclined in their open positions to providechutes for facilitating the transference of the material.

It may be advantageous to incline the apparatus slightly so as tofacilitate the flow of treatment or washing liquid. Alternatively, theindividual compartments or treatment chambers may have independent feedsfor the treatment or washing liquid, and for this purpose thecompartments may be axially spaced to provide therebetween spaces intowhich the liquid is introduced, the compartment walls on either side ofthe spaces being at least partially perforated. The perforations inthese walls can be so arranged that the treatment liquid, enriched ifnecessary with chemicals, can be forced forward under pressure.

Several embodiments of the present invention will now be described 'byway of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a longitudinal section through one apparatus in accordancewith the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a longitudinal section through another apparatus;

FIGURES 3 and 4 are part-sectional elevations of a "ice third apparatusshown in two operative positions respectively;

FIGURE 5 is a part-sectional elevation of a fourth apparatus;

FIGURE 6 is a cross-section along line 6-6 of FIG- URE 5 FIGURE 7 is alongitudinal section of a fifth apparatus;

FIGURE 8 is a cros-section along line 88 of FIG URE 7;

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary perspective view, partly in section of a drumof one apparatus referred to above, and

FIGURE 10 is a fragmentary section on line 10-10 in FIGURE 9.

The apparatus shown in FIGURE 1 comprises a drum 5 mounted in bearings3, 4 carried by bearing members 1 and 2, the drum being rotatable aboutits axis by any suitable driving means. The axis of the drum is arrangedhorizontally or substantially horizontally. The drum is divided axiallyinto three compartments or treatment chambers 5 5 and 5 and is split bya plane passing through its axis to form two relatively slidable drumportions. The lower drum portion has an additional reception chamber 5'into which laundry 7 or other material to be treated is fed by aconveyor 6, the material being dropped in the. direction indicated bythe arrow 8 when the drum is in the position shown. Under certaincircumstances it is necessary to moisten the material 7 before itsintroduction to the drum, and it may be desirable to press it in orderto reduce its volume. When the drum is stationary, the treated materialcan be discharged from the final compartment 5 as indicated by the arrow9, into a carrier 10 running on casters 11. This carrier may be.replaced by a conveyor belt similar to the conveyor 6. The dischargeopening of the compartment 5 is normally closed by a hinged closuremember 12.

In use of the apparatus, after the reception chamber 5' has been loaded,the upper drum portion is slid axially to the right through a distanceof one compartments width so that the upper half of compartment 5 liesabove the reception chamber 5'. The lower half of the compartment 5 isnow open. The drum is now rotated and. separate treatments are performedin the treatment cham-. bers 5 5 and 5 At the end of the treatment thedrum is stopped so that the positions of the drum portions shown inFIGURE 1 are reversed, and the drum portion which is now in the lowerposition is slid to the left. The drum is now rotated through half a'revolution to the position shown in FIGURE 1, the material ineach-compartment thus being transferred by gravity to an adjacentcompartment. The closure member 12 is opened and the contents ofcompartment 5 discharged.

In the construction illustrated in FIGURE 2, the drum 15 is rotatable onbearings 16, 16a carried by hearing members 13, 14. The drum is dividedaxially to provide four compartments or treatment chambers. Thecompartments are separated by dividing walls 24 each having in itslowermost portion an opening 22 adapted to be closed by a hinged closuremember 17. In its closed position, each closure member 17 lies flatagainst the wall 24, as indicated for one closure member at 21, so as tominimise the risk of damage to the material by protrusion of the freeedge 23 of the closure member.

In use of the apparatus, the drum is rotated to a position distant fromthat shown in the figure, and material is introduced into the firstcompartment via an opening normally closed by a hinged closure member18. At the end of the first treatment the drum is stopped and theclosure members 17 are opened.

The drum is next rotated through 180 to the position illustrated, inwhich the members 17 form inclined chutes which facilitate thetransference of the material under gravity in the direction of arrows20. Prior to the next treatment the closure members 17 are closed; thedrum is rotated through a further half revolution and the closuremembers 18 and 19 are opened to permit the introduction of freshmaterial into the first compartment and the extraction of treatedmaterial from the last compartment. The members 17 have a substantiallylarger area than the openings 22 in the walls 24, which may be recessedto accommodate the edges 23 of the closure members and thereby provide aflush fit. This construction provides an additional compartment beyondthose needed for the actual treatment stages. The integral construction'of the 'drum has the advantage that it can easily be kept liquid-tight,since there are no relatively sliding parts which call' for specialprecautions to prevent leakage. The movement of the closure members 17should be effected so that there is no risk of tearing or otherwisedamaging the material under treatment; the rotation of the drum throughhalf a revolution while the closure members are in the course of openingshould of course take place very slowly.

Referring now to FIGURES 3 and 4, the drum is divided into eightcompartments or treatment chambers I-VIII. Inthese chambers thefollowing treatments are performed, by means of treatment liquids whichare caused to flow in the opposite direction to the progressive movementof the material under treatment:

I ISoftening up..

II-lII-Preliminary washing.

IV-V-Washing clean, preferably with steam and detergents.

fresh material and to discharge treated material, and alsoto transferpartially treated material from one compartment to the next, it isnecessary to slide the drum' portions axially relatively one to theother as illustrated in FIGURE 4. The drum portions are carried by asplit shaft formed in two relatively slidable parts 29, 30, which run inbearings '27, 28 carried by hearing members 25 26. The limit of relativeaxial movement of the shaft parts is one compartments width. Thematerial is introduced in the direction of arrow 31 into compartment Iaas shown'in FIGURE 4, and material 'is discharged from the compartmentVIIIb in the direction of arrow 32. If it is requiredto rinse in hardWater or to starch the material, water is fed to chamber VII eithercontinuously or intermittently. v

The construction illustrated in FIGURE 5 differs from that-"of FIGURE 1in that the upper and lower drum portions are mounted on respectivehalves of a split shaft 43, 33.The ends of the shaft are rotatable inbearings 34, carried by hearing members 36, 37. The

shaft portion 43 is fixed axially although it can be rotated with theother shaft half. The lower drum portion comprises fourhalf-compartments. The material is introduced into .the drum in thedirection of the arrow 39 and is discharged from the last compartment inthe direction of the arrow 40 when a normally closed closure member 41 is -opened. 7 FIGURE 6 is a cross-section of the drum showing the fixedend wall 42 of the upper drum portion. The drum compartments in all theconstructions described above have axially extending ribs 44 which turnor tumble the material when the drum is rotated.

FIGURE 6 also shows the dividing wall 46 between the first and secondcompartments, which dividing wall perforations47 to allow the washingand rinsing fluids to pass. The individual dividing walls in the lowerdrum portion 45 are firmly fixed since they have to be other portion 53.Inside the portion 52 is a tank, FIGURE 8, adapted to slide axially.Thistank contains four compartments I to IV with a fixed end wall 55. Bymeans of an axialrod 57 the tank 54 can be displaced in the directionindicated by arrow 56 by a distance of one compartments width.Thematerial to be treated is introduced into the compartment IV, and thetank is moved through one chambers width to the left so that the twogroups of four half-compartments coincide. Compartment I has an openingfor discharging the contents, which opening is normally closed by ahinged closure member or discharging door 58. It will be appreciatedthat the discharging of material from this particular construction ofapparatus cannot be effected simultaneously with the introduction of thematerial into the drum, but a halfrevolution of the drum is necessaryafter the half-compartments I and I are brought into register. Theapparatus must therefore be operated so that after the treatment iscompleted the drum is stopped, the discharging door 58 is opened, thecontents are removed and the drum is then rotated through a furtherhalf-revolution- The tank is then slid a compartments width to the rightby means of the rod 57 and the compartment IV is ready for loading.

FIGURE 9 illustrates a typical drum construction. The two drum portions59 and 60 can be made capable of sliding axially with respect to oneanother. The lower portion 60 has two ribs 61 fixed firmly on the wallof the drum. The arrangement of these ribs 'will be later de- V scribed.The two drum portions have laterally protruding flanges 62 and 63 whichenclose corresponding rails or bars 64, which are attached either todrum 59 or drum 60. In attaching the rails or bars to the drum portionscare must be taken to ensure that the two portions of the drum can sliderelatively without hindrance. 'If for example the drum is rotating inthe direction of arrow 65, then the rib 61' at the junction of the twopor- 7 tions serves as a packing to prevent the treatment fluid applyingpressure to the joint and escaping. It should be stated that the speedof rotation of the unit should be receive a treatment fluid 70, from asupply pipe 69. The

intermittent forward movement of the material is in the direction ofarrow 71, whereas the genera-l direction of the treatment fluids isindicated by arrow 72. Although it suffices to arrange the unitperfectly horizontally, as the movement of the fluids exerts but littlepressure, the whole machine may be very slightly inclined. It istherefore essential to takecare that the flow of treatment fluids takesplace only in'the direction of arrow 72. This may be effected by makingperforations 73 on one half only'of wall 67 whereas the correspondingwall 68 is perforated only on the diametrically opposed half as shown at74; Thus the fluid first enters the intermediate space through theperforations 73, additional fluids being added here if desired, andthen, after a drum rotation of 180, enters chamber III through theperforations 74.

As already stated, additional chemicals, or even steam, can thus bepassed to the individual chambers. For this purpose inlet-leads can befixed to the chambers, adapted for whatever material, steam, hot water,cold water, or chemicals it is desired to add. These supply-leads can befixed to an end of the drum or unit, so that an absolutely water-tightconnection can be made; supply of material may be automatic, bygenerally known methods, and the periods when the unit is necessarily ata standstill will be used for supplying treatment material.

With this invention it is possible to produce a better cleansing effectin an appreciably shorter time. Also, this machine works with a smallerexpenditure of treatment fluid than the well-known double-drum washingmachines. Moreover, the eifect of heat-rays is less than withconventional machines.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for the treatment of textile goods in which material to betreated is advanced intermittently through a succession of treatmentchambers in counter-flow to a treatment liquid, said apparatuscomprising a rotary drum having a horizontal axis and mounted forrotation about said axis, said drum being partitioned axially into a plurality of separate treatment chambers in which successive treatmentstages are performed, each said chamber having an inlet opening throughwhich the material is received and an outlet opening through which thematerial is discharged, fluid supply means for supplying treatmentliquid to said chambers, and movable transfer means operable at the endof each treatment stage to inter-connect said inlet and outlet openingsof adjacent treatment chambers for effecting transfer of the materialbetween successive chambers when the drum is rotated to a predeterminedangular position.

2. Apparatus for the treatment of textile goods in which material to betreated is advanced intermittently through a succession of treatmentchambers in counterfiow to a treatment liquid, said apparatus comprisinga rotary drum having a horizontal axis, said drum being mounted forrotation about said axis, partition means dividing said drum into aplurality of axially spaced treatment chambers, including respective endchambers and at least one intermediate treatment chamber, each treatmentchamber having an opening therein adapted to be brought intoco-operative relationship with an opening in an adjacent chamber for thepassage of said material therethrough, means for supplying material tobe treated to one said end chamber, means for discharging the treatedmaterial from the other said end chamber, fluid supply means forsupplying treatment liquid to said chambers, and movable means forbringing said openings of adjacent chambers into co-operativerelationship, said drum being rotatable about its axis to apredetermined angular position whereby to effect transfer of thematerial by gravity between the chambers through said openmgs.

3. Apparatus for the treatment of textile goods in which material to betreated is advanced intermittently through a succession of treatmentchambers in counterflow to a treatment liquid, said apparatus comprisinga cylindrical drum having a horizontal axis, means mounting said drumfor rotation about said axis, said drum being partitioned axially into aplurality of separate treatment chambers, means for supplying treatmentliquid to said chambers, said partitioned drum consisting of a pair ofcomplementary hemi-cylindrical drum portions, one said drum portionbeing axially slidable relatively to the other drum portion between afirst axial position at which said treatment chambers are isolated fromone another and a second axial position at which one half of eachchamber is in registration with the complementary half of an adjacentchamber.

4. Apparatus for the treatment of textile goods in which material to betreated is advanced intermittently through a succession of treatmentchambers in counter-flow to a treatment liquid, said apparatuscomprising a cylindrical drum mounted for rotation about a horizontalaxis, partition means dividing said drum axially into separate treatmentchambers of equal axial dimensions, and fluid supply means for supplyingtreatment liquid to said chambers, said partitioned drum being split ina plane containing said axis and consisting of two complementaryhemi-cylindrical drum portions, one said drum portion being axiallydisplaceable relatively to the other drum portion through a distanceequal to the axial length of a said treatment chamber.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the partition means comprisesaxially spaced pairs of perforate dividing Walls, the two walls of eachpair being perforated and defining therebetween a space to Whichtreatment liquid is supplied.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the perforations in each pairof dividing walls on either side of said space are set in diametricallyopposed halves for providing an intermittent passage of the treatmentliquid.

7. Apparatus for the treatment of textile goods in which material to betreated is advanced intermittently through a succession of treatmentchambers in counterflow to a treatment liquid, said apparatus comprisinga cylindrical drum having a horizontal axis, said drum being mountedbetween end bearings for rotation about said axis, said drum consistingof two complementary hemicylindrical drum portions each of which ispartitioned axially to provide therein a series of hemi-cylindricalcompartments, the compartments of said drum portions cooperating inpairs to form respective treatment chambers, one said drum portionincluding at one end a further hemicylindrical compartment adapted toreceive material to be treated, and at the other end means fordischarging treated material from the last compartment, and fluid supplymeans for supplying treatment liquid to said treatment chambers, onesaid drum portion being axially slidable relatively to the other drumportion so that each said compartment therein is adapted to cooperatealternatively with two adjacent compartments in the other portion.

8. Apparatus for the treatment of textile goods in which material to betreated is advanced intermittently through a succession of treatmentchambers in counterflow to a treatment liquid, said apparatus comprisinga rotary shaft mounted between end bearings for rotation about ahorizontal axis, said shaft consisting of two complementaryhemi-cylindrical shaft portions, a cylindrical drum mounted coaxially onsaid shaft for rotation therewith, partition means dividing said drurnaxially into separate treatment chambers of equal axial dimensions, andfluid supply means for supplying treatment liquid to said chambers, saidpartitioned drum being split in a plane containing said shaft axis andconsisting of two complementary hemi-cylindrical drum portions eachsecured to a respective shaft portion, one said shaft portion beingaxially slidable in said end bearings relatively to the other shaftportion through a distance equal to the axial length of a said treatmentchamber.

9. Apparatus for the treatment of textile goods in which material to betreated is advanced intermittently through a succession of treatmentchambers in counterflow to a treatment liquid, said apparatus comprisinga rotary drum having a peripheral wall, said drum being mounted betweenend bearings for rotation about a horizontal axis, partition meansdividing said drum axially into a plurality of separate treatmentchambers, including respective end chambers and intermediate chambersbetween said end chambers, said peripheral wall having a first aperturetherein through which the material to be treated is admitted to one saidend chamber and a second aperture through which the treated material isdischarged from the other said end chamber, first and second movableclosure members connected to said peripheral wall for controlling saidapertures, and fluid supply, means for supplying treatment fluid to thetreatment chambers, said partition means comprising a plurality ofaxially spaced dividing walls having respective aligned aperturestherein adjacent said peripheral wall, and a hinged closure member foreach said aperture, each hinged closure member being movable between afirst position in which it closes its respective aperture and a secondposition in which it is inclined for guiding material through saidaperture when the drum is rotated to a predetermined angular position.

10. Apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said first and secondapertures through which the material is admitted and discharged arepositioned on diametrically opposite sides of said peripheral wall.

11. Apparatus for the treatment of textile goods in which material to betreated is advanced intermittently through a succession of treatmentchambers in counterflow to a treatment liquid, said apparatus comprisinga rotary shaft mounted between said bearings for rotation about ahorizontal axis, said shaft comprising two complementaryhemi-cylindrical shaft portions, a drum mounted on said shaft forrotation therewith, partition means dividing said drum axially into aseries of separable treatment chambers, and fluid supply means forsupplying treatment fluid to said chambers, said drum being split in aplane containing the shaft axis and consisting of a first drum portionhaving a series of compartments and a second drum portion having aseries of complementary compartments and a further compartment at oneend to receive material to be treated, one said shaft portion beingaxially slidable in its bearings whereby the compartments in the firstdrum portion are each adapted to register wtih either of two adjacentcompartments in the second drum portion.

12. Apparatus for the treatment of textile goods in which material to betreated is advanced intermittently through a succession of treatmentchambers in counterflow to a treatment liquid, said apparatus comprisinga rotary drum having a horizontal axis and mounted for rotation aboutsaid axis, means for supplying treatment fluid to said drum, fixedpartition means located within said drum and providing therein a firstseries of axially spaced compartments of equal axial length, movablepartition means located in said drum and providing a second series ofaxially spaced compartments of equal axial length, said first series ofcompartments registering with said second series of compartments andforming therewith V a series of axially spaced treatment chambers, saidmovable partition means being axially displaceable through a distanceequal to the axial length'of said compartments.

through which the material is received andan outletopening through whichthe material is discharged, said partition means comprising a pluralityof axially spaced perforate dividing walls, fluid supply means forsupplying treatment liquid to the drum, and movable transfer meansoperable at the end of eachtreatment stage. to inter-connect said inletand outlet openings of adjacent chambers for effecting transfer of thematerial between successive chambers when the drum is'rotated to :apredetermined angular position.

14. Apparatus for the treatment of textile goods in which material to betreated is advanced intermittently through a succession of treatmentchambers in counter flow to a treatment liquid, said apparatuscomprising "a rotary drum mounted for rotation about a substantiallyhorizontal axis, said drum being partitioned axially into a plurality ofseparate treatment chambers in which successive treatment stages'areperformed, and fluid supply means for supplying treatment liquid to saidchambers, said chambers being defined by a series of axially spacedfixed partition members within the drum and a series of axiallydisplaceable partition members each of which is adapted to registeralternatively with a'respective fixed partition member and an adjacentpartition member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,056,803 10/ 1936 Failing.2,337,137 12/ 1943 Thompson et al. 3,103,802 9/1963 Streich 68-58 XFOREIGN PATENTS 514,001 10/ 1939 Great Britain.

IRVING BUNEVICH, Primary Examiner.

1. APPARATUS FOR THE TREATMENT OF TEXTILE GOODS IN WHICH MATERIAL TO BETREATED IS ADVANCED INTERMITTENTLY THROUGH A SUCCESSION OF TREATMENTCHAMBERS IN COUNTER-FLOW TO A TREATMENT LIQUID, SAID APPARATUSCOMPRISING A ROTARY DRUMHAVING A HORIZONTAL AXIS AND MOUNTED FORROTATION ABOUT SAID AXIS, SAID DRUM BEING PARTITIONED AXIALLY INTO APLURALITY OF SEPARATED TREATMENT CHAMBERS IN WHICH SUCCESSIVE TREATMENTSTAGES ARE PERFORMED, EACH SAID CHAMBER HAVING AN INLET OPENING THROUGHWHICH THE MATERIAL IS RECEIVED AND AN OUTLET OPENING THROUGH WHICH THEMATERIAL IS RECEIVED CHARGED, FLUID SUPPLY MEANS FOR SUPPLYING TREATMENTLIQUID TO SAID CHAMBERS, AND MOVABLE TRANSFER MEANS OPERABLE AT THE ENDOF EACH TREATMENT STAGE TO INTER-CONNECT SAID INLET AND OUTLET OPENINGSOF ADJACENT TREATMENT CHAMBERS FOR EFFECTING TRANSFER OF THE MATERIALBETWEEN SUCCES-